Egyptian security forces check a woman's bag outside a polling station as she arrives to cast her vote in Alexandria on May 28. / STR AFP/Getty Images

by Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY

by Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY

CAIRO - Egypt's presidential election is expected to end Wednesday night following three days of scrambling by authorities to boost voter turnout amid what appears to be little enthusiasm for the ballot box.

An extension of the election to a third day was announced late Tuesday by the nation's election commission. The decision seeks to encourage people to head to the polls and underscores authorities' apparent concerns that weak voter participation could undermine the legitimacy of the election, which is expected to catapult former military chief Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi to the presidency.

But even if a high number of voters don't turn out, "he's going to win anyway," said Nadine Sika, an assistant professor of political science at the American University in Cairo.

"People are actually bored," Sika said. "Everyone knows the final result so there's no use in just going and casting the vote."

In Cairo's upscale Zamalek district, a polling center did not have a single voter more than an hour after polls opened Wednesday. Masked army troops looked relaxed standing behind sandbags.

"The ballot boxes are looking for voters," declared the front-page headline in Wednesday's edition of the Cairo daily Al-Shorouk.

Even the generally pro-al-Sissi daily Al-Masry al-Youm appeared to rub salt into the wound. "The state is looking for a vote," the headline said in red letters.

Al-Sisi, who has been backed by state institutions and media, was little-known in Egypt until he shot into the spotlight last year after Islamist leader and Muslim Brotherhood figure Mohamed Morsi was ousted from power. Now, he seeks high voter turnout to give his expected presidency legitimacy and to validate the overthrow of Morsi, which opponents said was a coup and supporters said was a revolution.

A Muslim Brotherhood-led alliance that opposes al-Sisi called for a boycott of the vote this week and is casting reports of low voter turnout as proof of its effectiveness.

"The successful boycott is an unprecedented popular punishment for the military coup regime and all its repressive measures, injustice, corruption and tragic actions taken throughout the past months," the anti-coup alliance said in a statement.

Following Wednesday's vote extension, the campaign of al-Sisi's only rival, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, withdrew its representatives from all polling stations nationwide, according to a post on its Facebook page. His campaign manager also resigned, the state news agency MENA reported, and called on Sabahi to pull out of the race.

Sabahi has refused calls to withdraw, saying his continued participation is a duty and responsibility.

Polls close Wednesday at 9 p.m. and official election results are expected on June 5, almost one year after Morsi's ouster.